Laskey spent five of his six big-league seasons with the Giants, from 1982-86, leading the team in wins his first two years, with 13 apiece. The 6-foot-5 righthander made 109 starts in 131 appearances and combined for a 41-48 record and 3.84 earned-run average while he was there.

His career was typical of the ups and downs of the franchise. He played on two winning teams and three losing ones, and went through four managers: Frank Robinson, Danny Ozark, Jim Davenport, and Roger Craig. He played with Jack Clark and Will Clark. Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow.

But perhaps Laskey’s biggest claim to fame was that he was the Giants starting pitcher on Oct. 3, 1982, when Joe Morgan hit the legendary three-run homer at Candlestick Park to beat Los Angeles on the season’s final day and prevent the Dodgers from winning the NL West and reaching the playoffs.

These days, Laskey is approaching his fourth season as Aragon’s softball coach with the same passion he once reserved for pitching. He became involved in the sport as his daughter grew up in Burlingame Girls Softball, and helped that league increase its numbers from 125 to 450 in three years.

At Aragon, he took a losing program with a bad field, and turned them both around. The Dons have had three winning seasons under Laskey, including a 24-6 mark and third place in the Peninsula Athletic League’s upper-level Bay Division last season.

The Aragon field itself has gone from a dark swampy mess into one with better drainage, littered with fewer branches, lined by new dugouts and concrete walkways, and adjacent to a new batting cage.

“I’m always going to want the Giants to win,” he said. “They’ve been very good to their former players. A lot of organizations have not. I know that whoever’s worn a Giants uniform is very happy for their old team right now.”

David Kiefer, a 20-year Bay Area journalist whose award-winning stories appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Examiner and Santa Cruz Sentinel, writes on all topics related to the Peninsula and Central Coast Section for sfgate.com. Kiefer was also the San Francisco Giants beat writer one season for the San Jose Mercury News.